Prices on Yekaterinburg new homes market to go down 5%-10% this year

March 31, 2015. The average price of a square meter in a new apartment in Yekaterinburg might go down by 5% to 10% by the end of 2015, Ural Chamber of Real Estates Executive Director Rustem Galeyev announced at a press conference.

We expected a 60% drop in demand before the government support program was adopted; now we think the drop will probably reach 30%. This will bring the housing prices down a bit. The government programs main weakness is its focus solely on the new homes market, Galeyev says.

The expert believes this focus will disrupt the existing financial chains, as many customers need to sell their old homes prior to buying a place in a new building.

There is now a government mortgage support program available for Russians which offers interest rate subsidies (up to 12% a year).